DISA announced winners for the unrestricted portion of the SETI contract, with small business awards schedule for later this year.

The Defense Department’s IT shop picked 14 large businesses in the first awards on the $7.5 billion System Engineering, Technology and Innovation, or SETI, contract, created to help the department research, develop and build the next generation of defense IT.

The Defense Information Systems Agency on June 14 announced the awards for the unrestricted pool, stating that additional awards for the small business pool would be announced in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018.

The SETI contract “is designed for current and future mission requirements, next-generation technological advancements and disruptive innovation that looks to create paradigm shifts in the ways warfighters interact with DOD's information technology,” according to the award announcement from DISA.

The 14 winners beat out a pool of 35 applicants for the indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract. The vehicle has a five-year base period with an additional five-year option period.